BENGALURU : For professional artists, art is more than a mere hobby. It’s serious business. And comic artist Rahil Mohsin agrees to having a tough time convincing people that art is also a full-time profession. A judgemental society combined with varied perceptions on art/artists, Rahil rues that full-time artists are not taken seriously.
Which is why the 28-year-old prefers maintaining a low-key profile, thereby not owing too many people an explanation about what he does. “It’s only after seven years and after releasing some books that people now understand what I am into. However, they do not understand completely. They just know that I am into books,” he says.
The artist, who got a big break with Sufi Comics, says people tag him as an artist who’s into philosophy and religion. “Proving that art is not limited to any particular genre is also a challenge,” he says.An experimental artist, Rahil keeps exploring his art styles. He has a different way of developing them. “The art style differs with genres and could include layout, dialogues and even minute details like fonts.
I obsess about the art style, while working on a comic, until it gets into my subconscious mind. Then I wake up the next day and start working on it. I have more than 500 comic books in my collection and hence, whatever genre I am working on, I always have something to refer to.
I keep the book with me all the time and keep looking at the elements in the story. The process might take a day and can even go up to a month,” he explains, adding that he then tries to complete a page in 24 hours. He aims to complete at least three books a year and has hence, moved onto digital art for quicker results.
Rahil has also illustrated two one-shot comics – The Big Sheep and Kiss Kiss Blam Blam. He will be launching a book, Blame it on Rahil, with anthologies. It includes nine short stories of eight different genres, including horror and comedy. When asked about the name of the book, he laughs and says, “I have always been into drawing. I would doodle on the benches at school and loved doing graffiti. So, whenever anyone would notice any drawing anywhere at school, they’d assume that I must have done it. So, I decided to name the book such.”
Born and brought up in Bengaluru, Rahil grew up reading Tin Tin, Marvel comics, Amar Chitra Katha and Shikari Shambu. “Most characters were muscular and I thought all comic characters are supposed to be like that. Only when I came across independent comics such as Johnny The Homicidal Maniac by Jhonen Vasquez, did I realise that characters and art could be simple too,” says Rahil, who also collaborates with writers across the globe for comics.Rahil will be holding a session, ‘Comics 101 Workshop’, hosted by Comic Con India at Monkey Bar, Indiranagar, on October 28, 3 pm.